A Sheboygan County resident in their 70s has become the second victim of COVID-19 in as many days, even while the case activity measured over the last two weeks is shrinking.
The latest victim becomes the 138 casualty here during the pandemic, while 13,501 persons have survived their battle with the coronavirus. Considering the casualty along with 5 new positives offset by 15 recoveries, active cases in the county were down by 11 to 127, while hospitalizations rose by one to 6.
A variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus first detected in Brazil, called the P.1 variant, has now been detected in Sheboygan County. As with the two other variants previously detected here, the B.1.351 strain first identified in South Africa, and the B.1.1.7 first discovered in England, the P.1 strain is classified as a “variant of concern” by the Centers for Disease Control because laboratory studies have shown evidence of an increase in transmissibility, more severe disease, a significant reduction in neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination, reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures. The Sheboygan County Division of Public Health is urging members of the community to help prevent the spread and emergence of new variants by getting vaccinated, wearing face coverings, physically distancing and practicing good hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
While deaths continue to occur and variants arrive here, the two-week case activity is headed in the right direction in Sheboygan County. For the period April 14-27 the activity level remains “high”, however the burden has fallen from 204.3 cases per 100,000 persons last week to 138.8 this week with a downward trajectory of 55%. And over the last two weeks, the 7-day average of new daily cases have fallen from 18 to 7.
Wisconsin recorded 688 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the running total to 596,552 cases. There were 34 deaths reported, and that toll is now 6,807. Another 79 persons needed to be hospitalized, and after accounting for deaths and discharges the state’s COVID-19 patient population rose 11 to 342, 107 of those in ICU beds. There are 377 ventilated patients in Wisconsin.
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